About a dozen workers and community supporters rallied this morning in front a West End McDonalds, as part of the “Fight For $15” campaign. The campaign hopes to raise wages and win better working conditions for fast food workers here and across the country. The rally aimed to draw attention to a new national class action lawsuit which charges McDonalds with systematically cheating workers out of minimum wages, in part by making workers work off the clock during their lunch break.

Linda Espinoza, a local fast food worker addressed the media. “I am 31 years old. I have a family, obligations, bill and needs. I support my daughters. I am currently employed at a fast food restaurant [and] have worked in fast food restaurants for the vast majority of my working career… I have worked hard for this company. I have worked through illness and injury. I deserve to be treated as the hardworking individual I am. I have gone through so much with this company from low pay to insufficient hours, schedule conflicts, and wage theft. We deserve better! I make $7.75 an hour which is barely enough to cover my bills and pay for my transportation. I only want to be treated as though I am not just a replaceable employee whose life means nothing. “

All politics is local, and even smaller elections matter to working families. Union leaders from across Middle Tennessee are actively screening candidates in upcoming judges elections, and in the process of making Endorsements. Look for CLC endorsed candidates when you go to the polls.

Nashville, TN – This year’s march to commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began as workers from across middle Tennessee joined faith leaders and labor organizers to call attention to the growing gap between the struggling and the wealthy. Workers like Aaliyah Morris, who works for $7.35 an hour, have full time jobs but still must rely on food stamps to feed their families called on employers and elected officials to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy by recommitting to shared prosperity and the rights of workers.

“These workers are demanding the dignity that Dr. King saw in all labor,” said Vonda McDaniel, president of the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. “People of faith, young organizers, and worker centers are bringing new life to the struggle for civil rights and worker rights in Tennessee.”

In 2013, several organizing campaigns across different industries began bringing workers issues into the public eye. In 2014, organizers predict, these will bear fruit in the form of unionized work places, wages recovered from theft by employers, and local union apprentices working on large public projects.

“Anywhere you look on the Nashville skyline you see cranes, but local workers are not truly sharing in this prosperity,” said LiUNA organizer Ashford Hughes, “To close the wage gap, we must close the skills gap by hiring locally trained workers on these projects, and ending wage theft by temp services.”

UAW civil rights representative Tom Savage was present to support workers at Nissan’s Smyrna plant: ““Martin Luther King gave his life while supporting the right of workers to organize a union. For Nissan workers, Dr. King’s struggle continues today.”

With that, the celebration of the federal holiday honoring the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his 85th birthday began with hundreds of workers marching from Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church.